The Los Angeles Lakers have holes throughout the roster, which is a reason the team is 23-24.
Los Angeles needs to upgrade this roster to have any chance of competing for a title in a few months, but the front office will need to make the right moves.
The Lakers have been linked to several names since trade rumors began swirling. One that could gain traction is Orlando Magic wing Terrence Ross, according to longtime NBA insider Marc Stein (paid subscription):
I passed along this update via Twitter on Sunday night purely because Orlando’s Terrence Ross and Gary Harris are names to monitor whenever they pop up these days. The Magic are widely expected to trade one or both before the Feb. 10 trade deadline depending on the level of draft capital they can get in return.
Some teams regard Ross as a natural target for the Lakers or the Jazz — both known to be seeking a defensive-minded wing player but possessing limited trade assets to make an impact trade in the next 17 days.
Ross is a theoretical 3-and-D player, though he’s not having a great shooting year with the worst team, by record, in the NBA. He’s hitting just 40.6% of his shots overall and 31% from deep. At 30 years old, he’s a career 36.4% shooter from 3-point range, but he’s more of a streaky scorer instead of a consistent spot-up or catch-and-shoot guy.
The 6-foot-6 wing is making $12.5 million this year and $11.5 million next year before becoming an unrestricted free agent. The Lakers would need to include Talen Horton-Tucker and a minimum contract to match salaries along with attaching draft picks.
The Lakers are probably better off looking elsewhere; Ross doesn’t appear to move the needle the way L.A. needs it to.
